Culture Ministry has interest in monuments of Ukrainian history on territory of Kursk region – Karandeyev
Acting Minister of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine Rostyslav Karandeyev says that the ministry is waiting until the security situation allows it to study cultural heritage sites in Kursk region of the Russian Federation, which are of interest to Ukraine.
"These territories currently have the status of a combat zone, there is no possibility to carry out any humanitarian civilian activities. Moreover, we will understand that this is a foreign territory, it is not the territory of Ukraine. At the same time, of course, we have an interest, it is connected with the monuments of Ukrainian history, which are located on these lands, where Ukrainians officially lived not so long ago. Therefore, of course, we have such an interest in these territories," Karandeyev said in a comment to the Interfax-Ukraine agency, answering the question whether the Ministry of Culture plans to carry out humanitarian response activities in its field on the territory of Kursk region of the Russian Federation, which is controlled by the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
In particular, the head of the department cited the example of the estate of Hetman Ivan Mazepa in the village of Ivanovskoye, Kursk region of the Russian Federation, which is not only an architectural monument, but also a monument of Ukrainian history.
"We would really like this facility to be restored and recovered. We will see how and by what forces this will be done, and how much it will be included in the list of foreign objects of Ukrainian cultural interest in the future, based on the development of the situation," he added.
Answering the clarifying question of how the mentioned "interest of Ukraine" in the cultural and historical sphere can be realized in these territories, Karandeyev said that today the Ukrainian troops ensure compliance with international humanitarian law there, and the Ministry of Culture is in constant contact with the Armed Forces.
"We are waiting for such an opportunity in the context of security to study cultural heritage sites on the ground, and together with international organizations to find solutions that, in the legal field, will allow us to ensure the preservation and restoration of cultural heritage sites that are of interest to Ukraine," he concluded.
As reported, on August 15, the State Service of Ukraine for Ethnopolitics and Freedom of Conscience does not plan to implement humanitarian response measures in its areas of competence in the territories of the Russian Federation, in particular Kursk region, which are controlled by the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
On August 22, Deputy Minister of Education and Science Mykhailo Vinnytsky said that Ukraine would provide the educational process to children in Kursk region if necessary, but there was no talk of moving minors to the territory of Ukraine. Later, the Ministry of Education clarified that no official decisions on education for children in Kursk region of the Russian Federation had been made.